There are 16 stored owner reports matching the powertrain & transmission leading-label group for the 2016 Cadillac Escalade in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 16 of 16 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)The engine seized while driving in the middle of the road. I was very fortunate that there was no incident. For others that drove at highway speed, accidents or fatalities may occur. GM is aware of this problem and elect not to do anything. Because of the high amount of engines faulty, the engines are 8-10 months back-order.
THIS VEHICLE HAS HAD ONGOING TRANSMISSION ISSUES SINCE IT WAS PURCHASED. IT HAS BEEN TO THE DEALER 9 TIMES AND THEY CLAIM EVERYTHING IS OK BUT IT IS NOT. IT IS SLUGGISH SHIFTING, HUNTS FOR GEARS, SOMETIMES BANGS INTO GEAR SO HARD IT FEELS LIKE YOU'VE BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT, SHUTTERS AND SHAKES, AND THIS HAPPENS REGULARLY REGARDLESS OF HOW FAST YOU'RE DRIVING OR WHAT TYPE OF ROAD.
WHEN FIRST STARTING IN THE MORNING, MY ESCALADE ESV MAKES HORRIBLE CLUNKING SOUNDS FROM THE TRANSMISSION. WHEN I PUT IT INTO GEAR, IT JUMPS FORWARD. WHILE DRIVING, THE TRUCK IS VERY JUMPY AND SHIFTS HARD. I DON'T DRIVE THE TRUCK HARD AS ITS MEANT FOR CRUISING AND NOT RACING. THE TRUCK HAS 31000 MILES ON IT CURRENTLY. I SEE THERE ARE OTHER COMPLAINTS WITH THE SAME ISSUE. GM NEEDS TO FIX THIS! *TR
AROUND 20,000 MILES WE STARTED DOCUMENTING ISSUES WITH THE DRIVE TRAIN BY TAKING IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP BUT WE HAD HAD THESE ISSUES PRIOR TO THE 20,000 MILE MARK. WHEN YOU WOULD BE TRAVELING AROUND 20 MPH AND TRAFFIC WOULD SLOW DOWN NEARLY COMING TO A STOP AND THEN SPEEDS WOULD PICK UP BACK AND YOU BEGAN TO ACCELERATE IT WOULD SHIFT WITH HARD THUD INTO GEAR. ALSO WHEN PLACING THE CAR IN REVERSE FROM PARK OR FROM REVERSE INTO DRIVE IT WOULD LUNGE FORWARD. WHEN AT A COMPLETE STOP AND SLOWLY REMOVING YOUR FOOT FROM THE BRAKE IT WOULD LUNGE FORWARD AS WELL. WE HAVE TAKEN IT INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THESE ISSUES A MINIMUM OF SIX TIMES WITH THE FOLLOWING OUTCOMES: 1) CANNOT DUPLICATE ISSUE 2) THEN DUPLICATED IT WAS A SOFTWARE ISSUE AND THEY UPDATED THE SOFTWARE 3) THIS IS JUST HOW THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTS - THIS IS NORMAL. THE SAME ISSUES ARE STILL OCCURRING AND MORE CONSISTENTLY WITH NO RESOLUTION FROM TWO DIFFERENT CADILLAC SERVICE DEPARTMENTS. THEN TWO WEEKS AGO THE MAIN SCREEN FOR AUDIO/THERMOSTAT/ NAVIGATION WENT COMPLETELY BLACK WHILE THE CAR WAS ON. COULD NOT CONTROL ANY OF THE AUDIO, THERMOSTAT, NAVIGATION - TRIED PRESSING THE HOME BUTTON, CONTROLS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. I TOOK A VIDEO OF THIS FOR PROOF IT HAPPENED BECAUSE I KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO TELL ME THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THIS. IN ADDITION, THE BLUETOOTH WOULD DISCONNECT MY PHONE INTERMITTENTLY THEN RECONNECT A FEW MINUTES LATER ALL ON ITS OWN. THE THERMOSTAT DISPLAY WILL SAY ITS 76 DEGREES BUT WILL BLOW COLD AIR ON MY MORNING 20 MINUTE DRIVE TO WORK. THIS IS OUR SECOND CADILLAC ESCALADE ESV. OUR FIRST 2004 IS STILL ON THE ROAD WITH MY DAUGHTER NOW DRIVING IT, I WISH I WOULD HAVE KEPT IT INSTEAD OF BUYING THIS ONE AS WE HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS WITH IT. MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE PURCHASED 5 GM VEHICLES SINCE 1995 AND ARE SO DISAPPOINTED THAT OUR MOST EXPENSIVE PURCHASE TO DATE IS RIDDLED WITH ISSUES
VEHICLE HAS BEEN TO THE DEALER 5 TIMES FOR TRANSMISSION AND TORQUE CONVERTER ISSUES RELATED TO HARSH SHIFTING, STUTTERING, SLAMMING INTO GEAR AND OTHERWISE TERRIBLE SHIFTING. THE FLUID HAS BEEN FLUSHED 4 TIMES AND NOTHING HAS SOLVED THE PROBLEMS AND THEY CLAIM THERE IS NOTHING WRONG AND CHARGED ME A DIAGNOSTIC FEE THE LAST TIME TO PERFORM NO ACTUAL WORK.
MY VEHICLE HAD ABOUT 46600 MILES. TODAY WHILE ON A VERY BUSY INTERSTATE, THE CAR STARTED SHAKING REALLY BAD. IT FELT LIKE I WAS GOING OVER BUMPS. THIS IS A VEHICLE I BARELY DRIVE AS I HAVE ANOTHER VEHICLE FOR MY PRIMARY USE. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE BRAND NEW WITH 10 MILES IN MARCH OF 2016. THERE'S NO EXCUSE WHY THIS CAR SHOULD HAVE ISSUES WITH THE TRANSMISSION OR ANY OTHER ISSUES. I PLAN ON TAKING THE VEHICLE TO CAPITAL CADILLAC FIRST THING ON WEDNESDAY. I DID SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND THAT I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS ISSUE. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE COVERED UNDER MY WARRANTY. I ALMOST PULLED OVER DUE TO THE SHAKING. IT WAS A VERY SCARY EXPERIENCE WITH MY KIDS RIDING WITH ME.
THE 8 SPEED TRANSMISSION HAS BEEN JERKY AT SLOW SPEEDS FROM ALMOST DAY ONE. BUT AFTER 30,000 MILES IT HAS BECOME WORSE. AT TIME AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE AND PLACING INTO GEAR IT WILL SUDDENLY AND VIOLENTLY LUNG FORWARD OR REVERSE, WHEN ACCELERATING FROM A SLOW SPEED IT WILL STALL ABRUPTLY, TWICE CAUSING AN ENGINE CODE. TWO DEALERS HAVE TRIED TO FIX IT, BUT HAVEN' BEEN ABLE TO. THIS SEEMS TO BE A MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM RELATED TO THE 8 SPEED TRANSMISSION IN GENERAL.
It has a pulsing action and massive vibration when under normal acceleration. It makes it so you have to give it more throttle or stop completely. It's a known transmission problem that GM knows about but will do nothing to fix. They even have a TSB out about it. It makes the vehicle very unsafe and hard to drive.
THE TRANSMISSION HAS MULTIPLE MALFUNCTIONS. DELAYED SHIFTS, HARD SHIFTS BOTH WHEN SHIFTING UP OR DOWN, VERY LARGE CLUNK OR HARD SHIFT WHEN GOING FROM 2ND TO FIRST. VERY UNPLEASANT TRANSMISSION AND MULTIPLE WAYS. DEALER KEEPS TELLING ME THAT THE TRANSMISSION IS ADAPTIVE TO THE DRIVER AND IT NEEDS TO LEARN HABITS. I HAVE HAD THE VEHICLE FOR OVER A YEAR. SOUNDS LIKE A COP OUT TO ME. NOT VERY HAPPY WITH GM!
PURCHASED 2016 CADILLAC ESCALADE ESV FOR MY WIFE ON OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY. CAR WAS EVERYTHING WE DREAMED OF UNTIL AROUND 15K MILES. BETWEEN 40-50MPH STARTED NOTICING A CONSTANT SHUTTER. THE ENTIRE VEHICLE WOULD DRIVE LIKE WE WERE DRIVING OVER THE WARNING BUMPS ON SIDE OF ROAD. IN THE SAME TIME FRAME WE STARTED NOTICING THE VEHICLE WOULD SHIFT HARD FROM PARK TO REVERSE AT VARIOUS TIMES. CONTACTED DEALER AND SCHEDULED A APPOINTMENT. AFTER HAVING VEHICLE FOR A COUPLE DAYS I WAS CALLED TO PICK UP. ONCE THERE I WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO ISSUE OR THEY COULD NOT DUPLICATE. I INSISTED THERE WAS A PROBLEM AND WENT FROM SERVICE TO SALES PERSON WHO HAS SOLD ME MY LAST 4 VEHICLES. HE TALKED WITH TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST AND SAID HE KNEW WHAT TO DO. SO THEY FLUSHED THE TRANSMISSION FLUID. I WAS CONCERNED BECAUSE THAT IS A 40K MILE REQUIREMENT, NOT 15K MILE. I WAS INFORMED THAT FROM TIME TO TIME THE FLUID FROM FACTORY IS INCORRECT. SO I ACCEPTED. 2ND TIME SAME SHUTTER AND FLUID FLUSHED AGAIN 3RD TIME SAME SHUTTER, SHIFTS HARD, JERKING, VIBRATION WHEN IDLE, FUEL MILAGE DECREASE AND POWER LOSS AND HESITATION WHEN TRYING GO. CHANGED TORQUE CONVERTER AND FLUSHED FLUID AGAIN. REPROGRAMMED TRANSMISSION. 4TH TIME SAME SHUTTER AND VIBRATION. CHANGED FLUID, REPLACED MOTOR MOUNTS. NOTHING TO THE HESITATION OR HARD SHIFTING. FINAL TIME HAVE BEEN TOLD NOTHING CAN DUPICATE. WE ARE STILL HAVING SHUTTER AND THE WORST OF ALL IS THE HESTIATION. CAR IS CURRENTLY PARKED AND WILL REMAIN PARKED. IT IS A SAFETY CONCERN AND WE WILL NOT PUT INNOCENT LIVES AT STAKE FOR A CAR NOT OPERATING AS DESIGNED. I SEEKED ASSISTANCE FROM DEALER AND GM SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. CURRENTLY HAD TO SEEK A LAWYER TO ASSIST.
TRANSMISSION STARTED SLIPPING AT 50K MILES. SINCE I AM IN THE TRANSPORTATION SERVICE INDUSTRY, I KNOW MANY PEOPLE THAT HAVE TRANSMISSION ISSUES ON ESCALADES.
COLLISION ALERT ON WHILE IN PARK. THEY ALSO FLASH FAINTLY WHILE DRIVING WITH NOTHING IN FRONT. ALL SENSORS CLEAR OF DEBRIS. THIS IS A RECURRENT ISSUE FOR WHICH I WAS TOLD IT WAS CUE RELATED AND THAT REPLACING THE CUE WOULD FIX. (RECURRENT ISSUE) SERVICE PERSON WAS ABLE TO SEE THIS PROBLEM AS IT HAPPENED ISSUES WITH MY ESCALATE WHICH INCLUDE THE COLLISION ALERT DISPLAYING ( FLICKERING ) ONGOING. HARD TO TAKE PICTURES AS IT HAPPENS WHILE DRIVING TRANSMISSION BANGS LOW SPEED (RECURRENT ISSUES) VEHICLE LOCKED ITSELF WITH THE KEYS INSIDE. MY WIFE HAD TO CALL ME TO GET THE SPARE SET AND UNLOCK THE TRUCK. THEFT ATTEMPTED WARNING LIGHT THAT WAS TRIGGERED WHILE I WAS DRIVING AND COLLISION LIGHTS WERE BEING TRIGGERED AS WELL I HAVE ADDITIONAL DOC I COULD SEND BU THIS SYSTEM ISN'T ALLOWING IT. THANK YOU FERNANDO
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 CADILLAC ESCALADE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE VIOLENTLY SHOOK AND SHUDDERED WITHOUT WARNING. ADDITIONALLY, WHILE DRIVING AT VERY SLOW SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE INADVERTENTLY LUNGED FORWARD. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL DEALER INGERSOLL OF DANBURY LOCATED AT 84 FEDERAL RD, DANBURY, CT 06810, WHO WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE OR DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 12,000.
FROM A COLD START, WHEN TAKING VEHICLE OUT OF PARK AND INTO REVERSE, THE VEHICLE WILL SURGE OR BUCK PRIOR TO APPLYING THE ACCELERATOR. THIS HAPPENS ABOUT 1/4 OF THE DRIVE TIME. WHEN ACCELERATING AND THEN COMING TO A COAST AND BACK TO ACCELERATING, THE CAR WILL BUCK. THIS HAPPENS ABOUT 1/2 OF THE DRIVE TIME. FROM A COLD START, REVERSE, DRIVE, ACCELERATE TO 1MPH WHILE MAKING A SLIGHT RIGHT TURN OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY, THE VEHICLE BUCKS. THIS HAPPENS ABOUT 3/4 OF THE DRIVE TIME.
THE GEARS SHIFT ABRUPTLY. WHEN TAKING OFF THE GEARS WILL SHIFT HARD THAT IT FEELS AS IF SOMETHING HEAVY IS DROPPING IN THE ENGINE. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALERSHIP THREE TIMES WITH SAME PROBLEM. TOMORROW WILL BE FOURTH TIME WITH SAME ABRUPT SHIFTING PROBLEM FOR A TOTAL OF 4 TIMES. AFTER DEALERSHIP TRIES TO FIX IT IT OPERATES WELL FOR ABOUT TWO TO THREE MONTHS AND THEN THE PROBLEM STARTS AGAIN. ALSO, THE VEHICLE HAS LOST ALL POWER TWICE NOW, BATTERY DEAD, DEAD, DEAD. WHEN ATTEMPTING TO TURN ON THE LIGHTS BLINK QUICKLY, MULTIPLE TIMES BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO TURN ON. THIS ESCALADE WAS 94,000 TOTAL AND IT IS NOT A QUALITY VEHICLE! ROUGH RIDE WITH TRANSMISSION KICKING IN SO ROUGH!!!
KNOWN TRANSMISSION ISSUE WHICH CAUSES THE VEHICLE TO TO BUCK AND SURGE WHEN YOU PULL UP TO TA STOP LIGHT, STOP SIGN, ON HIGHWAY,OR IN TRAFFIC. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DEALER STATES THAT THIS IS A KNOWN CONDITION WITH NO FIX. DEALER DESCRIBES ISSUES WITH SOME VEHICLES WORSE THAN OTHERS. GENERAL MANAGER OF COLONIAL CADILLAC WOBURN MA 781-935-7000 (BRET DOUGLAS) STATES THAT HE HAS DRIVEN VEHICLES WITH SAME ISSUES AND THERE IS NO FIX. IT WAS CORRECTED IN THE 2018 VEHICLES BY GOING TO A 10 SPEED TRANSMISSION. OUR VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN FOR SERVICE MULTIPLE TIMES WITHOUT ANY SUCCESS IN A REPAIR. WE ARE AFRAID TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE AS IT SURGES FORWARD AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT. CONTACTED CADILLAC AND THEY ARE UNWILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO HELP WITH THE ISSUE. THEY ARE CONCERNED THAT THIS WOULD START THEM DOWN A SLIPPERY SLOPE FOR REPAIRING MANY 2015,16,17'S THAT HAVE THE SAME ISSUE. YOU ONLY HAVE TO GOOGLE THE ISSUE TO SEE THAT MANY GM OWNERS ARE DEALING WITH THIS SAME ISSUE. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO HAVE A RESOLUTION. SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED AS A RESULT OF THIS TRANSMISSION ISSUE. PLEASE HELP
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Apr 28, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.